Jeebus, say that out loud to no one in particular and try saying it without cracking up.

Well done, monkey.

Posted by
SYF
from the C7.R, flyin' low and feelin' mean on 02/09/12 at 04:09 PM ET

ROFL

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/09/12 at 04:12 PM ET

I actually put up ROFL before the picture was posted, that is not what I was ROFL about.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/09/12 at 04:57 PM ET

I rofl’d anyway, Bill.

Posted by
SYF
from the C7.R, flyin' low and feelin' mean on 02/09/12 at 05:12 PM ET

Ericsson has been a disappointment all season, but this had to have been his worst game. That’s saying a lot, I know. The first oil goal was because Errorsson was standing around looking slackjawed after Cleary was hit into the door. He’s pretty brainless. There’s no good reason (and about 3 million bad reasons) why he’s even on the ice. Brendan Smith should get his place. I wish they’d healthy scratch him a few times.

You’ve seen three games and you’re ready to hand Brendan Smith the reigns on 1:06 worth of ice time in a 5-on-3?

Don’t forget, Ericsson on the PK has the best rate among ALL DETROIT DEFENSEMAN for fewest PP goals-against-per-60 minutes. I guess, you could count on Kindl or Commodore doing as well, except neither of them have played even ten minutes on the PK all season long. I’m sure we’ll find a way to stretch this out to mean that Ericsson is somehow the problem on the PK, despite Brad Stuart being #4 in the league for most PPGA.

While you’re bitching about Ericsson’s slack-jawed decision to not take an instigator penalty, ask yourself why Jakub Kindl felt that was the right time to skate from the-mid-slot to the bench with no other Red Wings players on his side of center ice. You know that side of the ice that Gagner came down on the breakaway? That’s Jakub Kindl’s side.

No idea why people think Brendan Smith should be playing over Ericsson. If anything, he should be playing over Kindl/Commodore. He’s not for a few reasons; some of them have to do with Smith’s waiver eligibility and some of them have to do with Smith’s level of effort since being sent back to Grand Rapids.

At 1/6th the salary, I’d expect Kindl to screw up occasionally. Given his lack of experience, he’s doing just fine, and at least Kindl was moving (albeit in the wrong direction) on that Gagner goal. Ericsson was standing there, neither fighting nor playing. It’d be a good illustration of “shit or get off the pot” as if he went swinging, whistles would go. If he didn’t swing (and he didn’t), he could play instead. He did neither.
Do you really think Ericsson is remotely worth the cash? He’s not a top pairing, or even a top two pairing. He’s on the PK a lot, and the PK does indeed suck. Ericsson is a turnover machine who rarely seems to have his head in the game. He had flashes of absolute brilliance in his first call-up. Since then he has been a fumbling mess who miscues regularly and costs the wings points.
Isn’t being the best D-man on the wings PK this year kinda like being the handsomest guy in the burn ward?

I’ve seen Smith play a lot in the AHL and he looks ready for the big league (more ready than Kronwall or Ericcson when they got the call). If Ericsson were in the press box and Smith were on the ice, I’d be willing to bet we see more jump and effort out of the D.

What the hell do I care about these guys’ salaries when Detroit’s sitting on a top-six forward’s paycheck worth of cap space right now? Ericsson is a better defenseman than Kindl right now. He’s a better defenseman than Commodore right now. He’s a better defenseman than Brendan Smith right now.

Hell… on some nights, he’s a better defenseman than Ian White and Niklas Kronwall right now. (Last night, for instance…. at least as far as White’s concerned.)

at least Kindl was moving (albeit in the wrong direction)

Yes, getting out of the way of the developing 2-on-0 breakaway is MUCH better than not changing when you should have. Based on how that play develops, do you think that Ericsson could have even have gotten back to cover Gagner? If he had changed immediately, do you think that Lidstrom would have had time to get back? If so, I can only offer my most sincere disagreement on that point. Jakub Kindl moved out of the position he was supposed to be in, which could have prevented a Sam Gagner breakaway and all you want to talk about is how bad Ericsson is.

Boy, I sure am comforted knowing that Kindl makes fewer dollars than Ericsson. Somewhere in my Red Wings fan brain, I’m ok with low-paid guys screwing up because who cares if it potentially cost us a game, it saved the Red Wings some money!

I will never agree that instigating a fight after a clean hit is the right play to make. Dude should have changed; absolutely he should have changed immediately. That doesn’t change the fact that the coverage mistake was Jakub Kindl’s and that play should have been a 2-on-1 without Sam Gagner having an open path to the net.

Do you really think Ericsson is remotely worth the cash?

Remotely worth? I absolutely think that. Entirely worth? No. Once again, I don’t care because Jonathan Ericsson’s cap hit isn’t preventing the Red Wings from having another better player on our roster. I didn’t think Brian Rafalski was entirely worth his cap hit either; that doesn’t mean I wanted him off the roster.

Ericsson is a turnover machine who rarely seems to have his head in the game

NHL defensemen with more giveaways this season than Jonathan Ericsson:

Since then he has been a fumbling mess who miscues regularly and costs the wings points.

How many points? When has he done this? How regularly does he miscue?

A lot of shit has to roll down the hill before the team’s #5 defenseman has to catch it for costing the team points.

Isn’t being the best D-man on the wings PK this year kinda like being the handsomest guy in the burn ward?

So by all means replace the guy who’s actually doing his job better than his teammates.

If Ericsson were in the press box and Smith were on the ice, I’d be willing to bet we see more jump and effort out of the D.

And I’d be willing to bet you’d get even more of it with Kindl in the press box in favor of Smith. Fortunately, I’m also against forcing Detroit to waive a defenseman who’s done well this season just so we can see more than three games and 12:57 AVGTOI out of your boy.

Jeebus Jumpin Christ JJ, I was just battling it out on NOHS about Ericsson and how I thought he played a great game and had to defend myself against haters and come over here and just marvel at your work (which, once again, has facts behind it).

Really, the kid played well last night, but it’s typical haters who want to pin the 2 on 0 that Gagner scored on him. Really, he was in past the red when Cleary turned it over and rather than have coverage, he had an empty headed partner.

And I agreed his contract, although “not living up to it” was tossed around, doesn’t bother me. But I hadn’t even factored in that the team isn’t exactly hurting because of it.

What it comes down to is…Are we Jonathan Ericsson fans? Gross.

Posted by
Sullyosis
from A hateful lair in Post Apocalyptic US (or Arizona) on 02/09/12 at 09:43 PM ET

Jeebus, say that out loud to no one in particular and try saying it without cracking up.

Well done, monkey.

No, I can’t take credit for that. That was a quote.

No, you could tell he was waaay pissed to start with. He had that look in his eye. And then Keating just wades in like some nabob fresh in off the pickle boat, and it was cringeworthy.

Posted by dougie on 02/05/12 at 02:41 PM ET

Posted by
monkey
from Praha, Česká republika on 02/09/12 at 10:12 PM ET

I’m talking got-caught-fisting-your-cousin wrong.

If fisting you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Posted by
monkey
from Praha, Česká republika on 02/09/12 at 10:13 PM ET

I will never agree that instigating a fight after a clean hit is the right play to make. Dude should have changed; absolutely he should have changed immediately. That doesn’t change the fact that the coverage mistake was Jakub Kindl’s and that play should have been a 2-on-1 without Sam Gagner having an open path to the net.

I’m pretty sure that he wanted to change but found the door blocked by the half eaten corpse of Danny Cleary.

Posted by
monkey
from Praha, Česká republika on 02/09/12 at 10:16 PM ET

Tuesday.

Why does Zetterberg play more minutes than any other forward?
Posted by RWBill from the Land of 12 in 12. on 02/07/12 at 07:50 PM ET

Amid the calls for Z’s head I wasn’t being sarcastic, I knew the answer when I asked it. I was asking to see what possible answers there were when what follows was the best answer.

Wednesday.
Ken Kal, during last night’s game “…as Coach Babcock was saying that Zetterberg was the best forward during that road trip.”

And Abdelkader was a beast and a leader, creating 2 critical goals last night.

Wednesday afternoon.

It would have been more threatening to designate a hero who doesn’t mind contact, I nominate Abdelkader, and tell him to gather in the puck at the blue line and just skate as hard as possible toward the net, and as he is being unmercifully tripped and hacked as the defense collapses on him, shove the puck at the goal as he is falling to the ice for the others to swarm around and hack at, creating massive chaos in front of the net. Youve got to get the defense moving and create disorder.
Posted by RWBill from the Land of 12 in 12. on 02/08/12 at 01:29 PM ET

Goal 2.

Goal 3.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/09/12 at 11:25 PM ET

Disregard this.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/09/12 at 01:04 PM ET

A lot more people should end their posts that way.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/09/12 at 11:33 PM ET

Yep, Abby had a hell of a game. Third line had a hell of a game.
Posted by MsRedWinger from Michigan, but now in Florida on 02/08/12 at 10:12 PM ET

The proof’s in the pictures! Gutsy, hard-nosed playoff goals.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/09/12 at 11:38 PM ET

Detroit $15 Million
St Louis $29 Million
Nashville $42 Million
Chicago $15 Million

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/10/12 at 12:04 AM ET

Do you think The 19 could land a Suite for January 1?

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/10/12 at 12:10 AM ET

Continue the Spam,

LMAO, Son of Ilych stated information would be available starting today on the official website “2013winterclassic.com”, but some ticket scalping site already claimed that domain and also “winterclassic2013.com” . hahahaha.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 02/10/12 at 12:18 AM ET

No, you could tell he was waaay pissed to start with. He had that look in his eye. And then Keating just wades in like some nabob fresh in off the pickle boat, and it was cringeworthy.

Posted by dougie on 02/05/12 at 02:41 PM ET

Posted by monkey from here to Timbuktu on 02/09/12 at 07:12 PM ET

Ah. Our resident witmaster is at it again, then. Brilliant, dougie.

Posted by
SYF
from the C7.R, flyin' low and feelin' mean on 02/10/12 at 03:04 AM ET

By playing in tonight’s game, Nicklas Lidstrom will tie the NHL record for regular season games played by all players who played their entire career for only one franchise, 1,549 games, a record currently held by Alex Delvecchio of the Detroit Red Wings.

The all-time record for franchise games played for all players is 1,687, held by Gordie Howe, also of the Detroit Red Wings.

Here’s hoping Lidstrom passes Howe early in the 2013-2014 campaign.

Posted by
monkey
from Praha, Česká republika on 02/10/12 at 10:38 AM ET

JJ - I’m usually right with you in lock step, but I can’t go along w/ you on J.Ericsson. That is an experiment that has not paid off. He’s a semi-competent player, but I really don’t see him as being any better than Kindl and only marginally better than Commodore, and in the bang for the buck category is eating cap space he’s just not entitled to. You posted a great list of D-men with more turnovers. I dig that. However, how many of those players play on a team focused on puck possession (that they actually pull off)? Further, there’s not a Red Wing on that list, which means (obviously) in turnovers, he is the weakest on a strong team. Sure, we could parse it and divide turnovers by ice time to come up with a more honest metric, but ultimately it won’t matter. We’re not Ken Holland.

I really do see Ericsson as another Leino, who was occasionally great but just couldn’t get over the hump on a consistent level. I was super excited about JE when he was in Grand Rapids and looked forward to him heading to the NHL. Somehow he’s in Babcock’s good graces whereas Leino was not. It isn’t exactly scientific, but I find myself cursing Ericsson’s name at the television in the same way I used to curse at Lebda. Outside of his competent play on the 5 on 3 PK, I didn’t see Big E do very much worth remembering in that game, and I don’t expect much from him tonight, either.

About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: wphoulihan@gmail.com